


Infighting

by starksborn



Series: The Curse that Falls on Young Lovers [2]
Category: Saints Row
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-01 23:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4037947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksborn/pseuds/starksborn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Boss and Pierce just want to relax, and Shaundi takes issue with it. The Boss is uncertain about the future of the Saints, and confides in Angel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Infighting

     One of the first things Angel learns about the Boss is that they like to be loud. They like to be loud and they like to be angry and they like to cuss, and they really like do all three of those things at the same time. He happens to be witness to several incidents that involves the Boss yelling and cussing and it's almost impressive the way they manage to string swears together. It seems like every time he sees the Boss they're pissed off about something. After a while he just assumes that's their default mode and he doesn't think much about it. The Boss's outbursts become background noise, and Angel manages to ignore them.

     For a while that becomes the nature of their relationship. The Boss shows up at the gym early in the morning with four different coffee drinks (three for themself and one for Angel, mind you) and then they rant and cuss and complain about whatever is on their mind while punching a bag, or sometimes while punching Angel. He's starting to think these training sessions are playing out more like therapy sessions than anything else but honestly, he can't say he minds. If listening to the Boss swear and taking a few frustrated punches is what it takes to get them to take his training seriously, it's a fair trade.

     Even still, it's not until the Boss and Shaundi get into an argument that Angel realizes he's never truly seen them at their angriest.

     It's during one of Pierce's parties that it happens.

     Pierce and the Boss are circling each other around a pool table, armed with cue sticks and grins that are all teeth and ego. Angel balances himself on a stool nearby, nursing a beer and keeping an eye on the sizable stack of money sitting on the table next to him.

     A hefty bet on the game, winner take all.

     "Hope you're not too attached to that money, Washington," the Boss says. They complete their circle of the table, coming to a stop in front of Angel and eyeing the arrangement of the balls for a moment.

     "Shit," Pierce says, "that probably came outta your bank account anyhow. We ain't really winning or losing anything here."

     "Yes but it's the principle of the thing," the Boss says, leaning over the table and lining up a shot. Angel's eyes make a trail down their back, watching the way their muscles move under their shirt, and the way they balance on the tips of their toes. When he glances back up Pierce is grinning at him, and he manages to clear his throat and turn his attention to the TV hanging above the bar.

     "Can't argue with that," Pierce says, his eyes flitting back to the pool table. He whistles as the Boss misses their shot. The Boss swears and straightens back up, turning to look at Angel over their shoulder.

     "I think he's cheating," they say. "Angel don't you think Pierce is cheating somehow?"

     Angel raises his eyebrows and takes a large swig of his beer, shrugging his shoulders and gesturing to his mouth, as if to say 'sorry can't talk, mouth full'.

     "You fucking traitor," the Boss says. "I'll remember this at Murderbrawl."

     "That's hardly fair," Angel says after swallowing the beer.

     "That's what happens your partner is a vindictive motherfucker, dude," Pierce says.

     "Maybe I should get rid of the Boss and just keep the tiger for Murderbrawl then," Angel says. The Boss grins at that, watching Pierce line up a shot on the table.

     It's at that moment that Shaundi shows up, rounding the corner and storming over to the pool table.

     "Are you fucking kidding me?" she snaps. "Wasn't one party enough for you people? Or did you forget about the hooker assassins?"

     "Nah we ain't forget," Pierce says. "We just booked better hoes this time."

     "I can't believe this," Shaundi says. She crosses her arms and turns her attention on the Boss. "We have too much to do to be partying like this."

     "Shaundi," the Boss says. They lean their pool cue against the table and rest their forearms on the side of it. "I know we've all got a lot on our plates, but that's exactly why throwing a party to unwind is a good idea. We can't just run our crew and ourselves ragged trying to bring down the rest of the Syndicate. We gotta come up for air every now and then."

     "Oh really? Tell that to Johnny, I'm sure he'd love to be able to come up for air," Shaundi says. The tension in the room changes then, like someone's flipped a switch. The Boss shifts their position, standing up a little straighter and leaning on their palms on the pool table. Pierce chooses to take a step back, dropping the hand holding his pool cue to his side.

     "Girl," he mutters.

     "No, don't you 'girl' me, Pierce," Shaundi snaps. "You're all being irresponsible. We should be out finishing off the Morningstar or working on the Deckers or dealing with Killbane! Not throwing parties like a bunch of frat boys."

     "As far as Killbane goes, he's being dealt with," Angel says. Shaundi turns her gaze to him, seemingly noticing him for the first time. He takes another sip of his beer and doesn't break eye contact until she does.

     "Right," Shaundi says. "How could I forget? We're just gonna wrestle him to death. Because that's gonna make up for how Johnny died, we're just gonna grapple with Killbane a little."

     "Shaundi I could feed Killbane his balls on a silver spoon and it wouldn't make up for how Johnny died," the Boss says. There's an eerie calmness to their voice.

     "Boss is right," Pierce says. "I want the rest of the Syndicate gone as much as you do, but no matter what we do to 'em it ain't bringing Johnny back. All we can do is murder the fuck out of as many people as we can and be happy knowing that's what Johnny would want."

     "Then how come it seems like you're all doing everything but murdering the fuck out of as many people as you can?" Shaundi asks. "I mean, really? Driving around with tigers? Doing escort services for fucking Zimos? What is that even accomplishing?"

     "It's..." Pierce falters for just a moment. "...helping us lay claim to Syndicate territory. Which all things considered, we ain't doin' too bad considering we had nothing when we got here."

     "Right," Shaundi says. "How I could forget about that. Why don't we just fucking ask them nicely to give us their territory while we're at it? I feel like I'm the only person taking this serious."

     "You know that's not true," Pierce says.

     "Do I?" Shaundi asks. "Because I'm starting to feel like I'm the only person in this gang that gives a fuck about the fact that Johnny is dead!"

     Pierce goes silent, and Angel leans back on his stool a little.

     "Shaundi," the Boss says. They're almost inaudible under the music blaring through the crib, but the tightness to their voice is clear. "Johnny's death has hit you hard. It's hit us all hard, and I know you're in a bad place dealing with it. I've been trying to give you space, to let you work through your issues on your own and personally I feel like I've been giving you a lot of leeway when it comes to how you've been addressing me and the other people here."

     Shaundi goes to respond and the Boss holds up a hand for silence.

     "I'm not done talking," they say. That calmness is still lacing their words, and it sends a chill down Angel's spine to hear it. He's used to yelling and swearing at levels that are almost comical. This type of control over their reactions isn't something he's seen from the Boss before.

     "Shaundi you're like a sister to me," the Boss says. "And I don't want us to be fighting each other about Johnny when we're in a city full of other people to fight, but if you ever speak to me or anyone in this gang like you just did again, we're going to have a problem."

     "Well maybe I wouldn't have to talk like this if you people would--" Shaundi is interrupted by the Boss slamming their hands down on the pool table. The force of it causes the cue balls to bounce a little, and roll out of place.

     "Shaundi I swear to god if you ever so much as insist to me again that I don't care about the death of someone in this gang, especially Johnny I will fucking strip you of everything the Saints have given you and leave you in the middle of nowhere with nothing." The words come out in a low hiss, and the way the Boss's voice almost breaks when they say Johnny's name doesn't go unnoticed by Angel. Pierce has caught it too, from the way he's just staring wide eyed and looking between Shaundi and Boss. He makes eye contact with Angel and and gives the smallest shrug of his shoulders, unsure of what to actually do in this situation. The Boss is clutching the edge of the pool table so hard their knuckles are white, and they're not breaking Shaundi's gaze.

     "Have I made myself clear?" the Boss asks. Shaundi doesn't respond and for a moment Angel thinks she's going to keep arguing. Finally, she glances away and nods.

     "I understand," she says. "I... call me, if you need me."

     Shaundi turns on one heel and disappears around the corner, quickly swallowed up by the crowd in the penthouse. Pierce is still holding his cue stick, and the Boss's hands are gripping the pool table so hard they're shaking. A few minutes of awkward silence pass, peppered only by the chatter of other people in the crib. Pierce is the one to break it, setting his cue stick down and making a show of stretching.

     "Well I hate to disappoint you but I think I'm all pooled out for the night," he says. "I'm gonna fix a drink, anyone coming?" There's another moment of silence before the Boss responds, blinking a few times and shaking their head a little.

     "No," they say. "No thanks, Pierce. I'm good."

     "Suit yourself." Pierce moves away from the table, and quickly worms his way through the crowd to the stairs. The Boss remains stationary, still holding onto the table and Angel gives them another minute or so before daring to come up beside them and put a hand on their shoulder.

     "Hey," he says, squeezing their shoulder a little to get their attention. The Boss glances at him and blinks some more, as if they're not entirely here at the moment. They managed to unclench their hands from the table, letting go of it and taking a step back, looking down and watching as their hands continue to shake.

     "She fucking knows," they say lowly. "Shaundi knows what my relationship with Johnny was like. And she still says to my face that I don't care that he's fucking dead?"

     "You said it yourself," Angel says. "She's hurting. She's in a bad place, she doesn't mean it. Grief, loss, it makes people act out in ways they wouldn't normally."

     "So, what I'm supposed to just let this slide?!" the Boss snaps, gesturing in the direction Shaundi left in. Angel sighs a little and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning his hip against the pool table.

     "Of course not, and you didn't," he says. "You set clear boundaries for her, and you're giving her space and that's all you can do until she works through this."

     "She better fuckin' work through it quickly," Boss snarls. "If she pops off something like that again I'm going to break her fucking neck and throw her off the roof."

     "Well, now you just sound like Eddie." There's a not a stitch of amusement or softness in Angel's voice, and it causes the Boss to look over at him, eyes flashing with anger.

     "Oh, so I'm Killbane now?" they ask. "Then why the fuck are you still here?"

     "Because you're not Killbane, but you sound like him when you talk like that." The Boss throws a hand up in exasperation, pacing back and forth in front of him.

     "You don't get it, Angel, you didn't know Johnny," they say.

     "I know," Angel says, and some of the softness has worked its way back into his voice. "But you did. Do you really think he'd want you and Shaundi fighting each other? Do you think he'd want you threatening her when she's in pain?"

     All of the anger seems to just dissipate from the Boss when he speaks, and they stop pacing to sink onto the bar stool and put their head in their hands. They don't speak right away, and when they do there's a thickness to their voice Angel's never heard before.

     "No," is all they say. They drop one hand from their head and gesture at the city glittering behind them. "But I'm at my wits end with this. It feel likes yesterday we finished our last turf war to get Stilwater back, and now here we are in Steelport."

     They fall silent again, and Angel says nothing, leaving them to their thoughts and the silence until they feel like speaking again.

     "Johnny once said there's no Saints without us," they say. "Without me and him and I'm starting to think he's right because I honestly have no idea where to go from here. We get rid of Killbane, we get rid of Matt Miller we take this fucking city and then what? What comes next? Where do we go from there?"

     They look back up at Angel and he can see the uncertainty in their eyes, and somehow it almost feels wrong. He hasn't known the Boss very long at all, but even still there's something that seems so exposed, or even vulnerable about the look in their eyes that he's not entirely sure he should be witnessing it. He wonders how many people have seen such a look, and he gets the feeling one of those people is the very reason the Saints are at war with the Syndicate in the first place.

     "For the first time in my life I don't know what I'm doing when tomorrow comes," they say. "Johnny's death was so sudden and it's just ripped this huge hole in all of us, and I don't know how I'm going to fix it. What kind of a leader am I if I can't?"

     "Some things can't be fixed," Angel says. He pushes off from the pool table and closes the space between them. "That doesn't make you a bad leader. You're doing what's right for your people, that's all you can do."

     "Am I though?" they ask, their voice almost a whisper. "Loren killed Johnny, and Loren's dead now. The debt is settled, why am I keeping everyone here?"

     "Because it's what you know Johnny would want, isn't it?" Angel asks, and the Boss almost smiles at the question.

     Yeah, it is what Johnny would want. He would want the Syndicate wiped off the face of the Earth for even thinking they could cross the Saints like this, and the Boss knows that if the roles were reversed and it was Johnny fighting this war, he wouldn't stop until every last Syndicate member was in a fucking box.

     "But what comes after?" they ask. "I don't know what we do then."

     "You've got people for that," Angel says. "You've gone out and recruited new people for a reason. Oleg and Kinzie, Zimos... and me. We'll figure it out together."

     "Yeah? That mean you planning on sticking around after we get rid of Killbane and get your mask back?" the Boss raises an eyebrow at him, and a small smirk is tugging at the corner of their lips.

     "Of course," Angel says. "I'm a Saint now, aren't I?"

     "Yeah," they say. "You're kind of stuck with us."

     Angel grins a little and shrugs.

     "I could think of worse people to be stuck with." The Boss shakes their head and snorts, leaning back on the stool and rubbing their eyes with their fingertips.

     "Hell of a party, huh?" they ask.

     "You want to go get some air?" Angel asks. "There's a nice coffee shop that's still open not far from here."

     The Boss drops their hands and then just stares at for a minute, long enough for Angel to start feeling slightly awkward. He clears his throat and rubs at the back of his neck, breaking eye contact and finding interest in something on the floor.

     "Sure," Boss says, and Angel looks back up at them as they slide off the stool. "Coffee sounds nice."


End file.
